Flyers Gameday: This Might Not Work Out

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Written by The Weather

Saturday, 13 March 2010 09:52

You're being unfair. Plain and simple. Even the AP knows what today's game is:

"Now things change. The Hawks visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, return home for a tough (and nationally televised) home game Sunday against the league's top team, the Washington Capitals, and then go on the road for three straight on the West Coast…"

It's a formality. They just visit Philadelphia but then there's a real game on Sunday. And you're rude enough to expect a good game because you paid upwards of $50 for a ticket. Or because you're going to devote an entire Saturday afternoon to hockey instead of making love to various ladies from the sexier pages of the phone book. Shame.On.You.

Tomorrow is going to be a great game. Wouldn't a Washington vs. Chicago Stanley Cup be a breath of fresh air? Two arenas where the fans are so loud they drown out all sound. A team that hasn't won since the Korean War and a team that has never taken a sip from the Silver Chalice. Young stars and consistent play for 6 or 7 games. That would be exciting.

Consistent play…oh yeah, the Flyers! Almost forgot about them. While the above is slightly tongue-in-cheek it's also not. I don't know if it's in the soft pretzels, in the logo, or in Ed Snider's hair, but the Flyers have not been a consistent team at least since the lockout and maybe in this millennium. You spend a lot of time hoping as a Flyers fan. Hoping by some miracle they can tie it up, or hoping that when they give up a two goal lead they can make it into overtime. Acquiring Ian Laperriere and Chris Pronger was supposed to help address this. It hasn't. You, as a fan, getting ready to watch this game today have no way of knowing which team is going to come out wearing orange and black - the Flyers from the 3rd period in Tampa (who beat the Caps last night) or the Flyers from the 2nd period against Boston. How can the same collection of players play that differently? I think the organization has bipolar disorder. You know when you're team is a Stanley Cup contender - and you all know we're not. The best we could hope for is a 2007-08 esqe run into the Conference Finals. The Hawks are the real McCoy. Anything less than a hard fought 7 game loss in the Finals would be shocking to them and their fans. No one in Chicago is hoping for a win, they're expecting it.

In that sense you are paying for what you get today. You're going to see a great team without a doubt. Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Sharp are a line. A single line. Think about that. A defensive pairing of Olympic gold medalists Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook - 2 of Canada's best defenseman on a single pair. Think about that too. The only way the Flyers that lost to the Phantoms or the Flyers that beat the Rangers 6-0 can beat this team is by playing smart defensively and not just get shots on goal - because we are superb and firing wristers from every perimeter position on the ice - but by Knubling it. Yes, for the first time this season I am willing to admit that we desperately miss Mike Knuble. Count the number of scoreable rebounds that the Hawks goalie gives up today. When you have someone to hit 2 or 3 of them a foot into the net that looks nice on the scoreboard. Hartnell was supposed to become Knuble but instead he's become Lou Nolan's apprentice.

Wow this is an upbeat post. If the Bruins game left a bad taste in your mouth it left an entire case of soap in mine.
So if you're going to the game make sure to lure a child away from his parents and steal his Chris Pronger growth chart. And then draw a wheelchair, walker, or dinosaur legs on him and paste it right on the glass during warm ups. Wake these dopes up. There's nothing that can erase Thursday's embarrassment except maybe 4 points this weekend. Our Philadelphia Flyers are 2 points ahead of 8th place.